


Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves

by adampascalfan



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, reference to cannon eating disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 15:06:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2392763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adampascalfan/pseuds/adampascalfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the events in The End of The Twerk.  If Marley thought her blowing Jake off in the auditorium was going to go unnoticed, she was sadly mistaken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves

Even though it was nearly impossible to tell from her perch on Artie’s lap, Kitty was fairly sure someone was missing from the mass of bodies surrounding her.  Maybe even two someones.  All she knew for sure was that normally when this sickening display of affection happened (like say yesterday after Ryder found out he had academic eligibility for football next year) there were usually at least three people accidentally almost pushing her off Arthur’s lap.  Today, it was only Sam.  

Standing up, she managed to catch sight of Marley and Jake standing apart from the rest of them.  That in and of itself wasn’t entirely odd.  Every now and again they attempted to grab some personal time under the excuse of congratulating each other on a good number.  (Not that Kitty blamed her for that.  From what Marley told them, when Jake’s mom was there she was on a one woman quest to keep herself from becoming an early grandmother.  A development, Marley noted, came about around the time Jake started spending more time with his brother.)  But the fact Jake was the one who looked like a wounded puppy and Marley was barely looking at him was new.  Just as she was about to yell at them to get their sorry asses over here so this endless hug parade could finish, she saw it.

Jake reached out to touch Marley’s arm and Marley jerked it away as if his touch had burned her.  Marley held up a single finger to warn Jake back before striding off to the wings.  

Looking over her shoulder, Kitty caught Unique and Tina’s quizzical gazes.  “What was that?” Ryder asked, even more confusion on his face than there was on an average day.  “Dude what’s up with Marley?”

“Nothing. Just...just forget it.” Jake shrugged before jumping off the stage and heading up towards the exit, blowing past Mr. Schue.

“He has been here long enough to realize none of us is actually going to forget that right?” Artie asked as he adjusted his glasses.  “Because if not I thought he was smarter than that.”

Sam clapped his hands together. “So what do we go with? The R. Kelly?”

Blaine shook his head. “We’ll never get either one of them close enough to a closet to trap them in there.  What about The High School Musical?”

“Our teams still suck” Artie argued as Kitty, Unique and Ryder all stared at the seniors in complete confusion.  “Not a big enough crowd to do that one.”

“If I may ask the obvious,” Unique raised her hand.  “But what in the name of all that is holy and Beyonce are you all talking about?”

“It’s how we attempt to keep breakup drama out of the choir room.” Tina explained. “If we don’t do something to inspire them to come back together, there will be very long weeks of increasingly bitter break up songs.  To be followed by disturbingly angry songs when one of them starts dating someone else.”

“We just need to find the right one that will work for Jake and Marley.” Blaine offered.  

“You are all deeply disturbed individuals and need professional psychological help.” Kitty said while shaking her head.  “Not to mention all your plans are lame.  It sounds like Mr. Schue came up with half of them.  Here’s what we’ll do.  Unique and Tina will come with me to talk to Marley and find out what actually happened.  And since it looks like this is probably Jake’s fault, you will find him and stop him from doing something even dumber than he’s already done.  Now go before I deeply regret talking to any of you.”

Twirling on her heel, Kitty grabbed Tina and Unique’s hands, forcing them to follow her.  As they reached the edge of the stage, she heard Artie’s low appreciative whistle.  Looking over her shoulder she winked at him.  “You better have found him by the time we get the story from Marley” she warned.

“I love it when you get bossy, woman”

“Dude no one needs to know that much about your sex life.” Sam groaned. “Come on, let’s go find Jake.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“So where do we think she’s hiding? Cafeteria with her mom? Bleachers?”  Tina offered as they entered the hallway and started making their way towards the choir room on autopilot.  

“She won’t want her mom to know she’s upset.” Unique reasoned.  “So not the cafeteria.  She and Jake flirted on the bleachers a lot during that whole nauseating puppy dog eyes phase, so not there.”

“Well we are heading to the choir room.” Kitty pointed out.  “But it feels too obvious.  She’d know we’d check there first.”

“Wait. I know.” Tina stopped in the middle of the hallway before turning back the way they came.  “Girls bathroom by the auditorium.  She’d hide there until she heard Mr. Schue lock up.”

“Of course, that’s it exactly.” Unique shook her head and quickened her pace.  “We better hurry. If the boys didn’t get stopped by Mr. Schue, he’s probably locking up right now.”

The trio neared the bathroom just in time to see Mr.Schue starting to turn the key in the door.  Grabbing their hands Kitty shoved the both of them  inside the algebra room, quickly following herself. She held up her finger up to silence Tina and Unique.  If Mr.Schue saw them, he’d try to talk to them and get way too many details.  (She wasn’t sure why her choir teacher felt like he had to be best friends with teenagers but if she had one mission from God it was to convince Mr. Schue to find adult friends.  Which she was _totally_ going to do but first they needed to talk to Marley.)  And if Marley heard them, Kitty didn’t put it past the other girl to just stay in the bathroom all night rather than tell them what was going on.  

Mr.Schue took the hallway going towards Principal Sylvester’s office, whistling _Blurred Lines_ as he went.  “We really need to e-mail him the lyrics to that song.” Tina whispered.  “I’m not going to end up singing back up on that song for Nationals.”  

“Shh.” Kitty held up her hand.  “Here she comes.”

The bathroom door no janitor had ever gotten around to fixing squeaked open, the sound echoing down the empty halls.  Marley poked her head out just far enough to make sure there was no one in the hallway before slowly stepping out all the way, tucking her hair behind her ear before rubbing the tears off her cheek.  Unique had seen enough.  She took a confident stride away from the door, Kitty and Tina following her.  “Marley, honey, I’m sure I told you the first rule of best friendhood is that there is no crying alone.”

“What are you… I’m not crying.” Marley protested weakly as the other girls stopped in front of her.

“You are like the worst liar ever.  I’m pretty sure even _Mr. Schue_ would know that was a lie.” Kitty rolled her eyes.

“Guys, really. Everything’s fine.” Marley held up her hands.  “I’m just going to go meet my mom…”

“What you are going to do is call your mom and tell her you are coming with us.” Unique pulled Marley’s hand under her arm.  “And then you are going to tell us what was up with that cold shoulder to Jake at the end of practice.”

“There is nothing to tell. And even if there was, I’m not going to broadcast my private issues to the entire club.”

“I had forgotten you’re new here.” Tina smiled.  “Marley if there is one New Directions tradition that will continue for as long as the group exists, it’s being way too involved in each other’s lives.  Now, we sent the boys out after Jake so you might as well tell us.  Because they will get Jake to talk and then Artie will tell Kitty and we’ll know anyway.”

“It’s true.” Kitty nodded. “So come on. We’re going to my house and we’ll pick up ice cream along the way.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Ok, we have ice cream, chocolate and cookie dough.” Tina said while she ticked off each item on her fingers and sat on the floor at the end of Kitty’s bed.  “Everything we need for whatever the issue is.”

“You don’t have to do any of this.” From her spot on the floor, right next to Kitty’s bed, Marley pulled her knees up under her chin, grimacing a little at the sight and _smell_ of all that food.  “I’m fine.  I promise I’m fine.”

“Fine does not cover you acting like Jake burned with you fire.” Unique countered putting her hand on top of Marley’s.  “Now spill.  Tell your girls what is going on, partake of the best junk food Lima has to offer and feel better.”

“What if saying it doesn’t make it better. What if it makes it real?” Marley whispered, never looking up from her knees.

“Then we will help you make it better.” Kitty announced moving directly in front of Marley on the floor while Tina moved to Marley’s left, because Unique was already sitting to her right.  “That is what we do.  So tell us and if it’s bad, we’ll deal with it.”

Tina nudged Marley’s shoulder with her own. “Just try it.  Tell us what’s going on and just see how we can help.”

“No offense but your version of help tends to make things worse rather than better.” Marley pointed out as she looked between Kitty and Tina.  Tina scowled as Kitty shrugged her shoulders. Unique reached out and pulled Marley to her side.

“Be that as it may, I have a perfect track record when it comes to best friend advice.  And as your best friend I would not allow anything to get worse for you.  That includes everything from this to cheap off the rack wedding dresses and starring in _Glitter 2_.  So come on. Tell Unique everything.”

Glancing up at the ceiling, Marley took a deep breath. Chewing on her bottom lip, she took one last look at her friends circled around her before closing her eyes. “Jake cheated on me.”  She admitted softly. “He cheated on me with Bree.”

“Oh my God. Did you catch them?  Walk in on them?  Do they know you saw them?  Was there a scene?”  Tina asked in a rush leaning forward.  

Kitty shoved Tina back a little. “Step back TMZ.  Obviously Jake knows since he refused to tell us what was going on when we asked.”  Kitty took Marley’s hand in hers.  “So did he man up and tell you?”

“No Bree did.”

“Bray?” Kitty jerked her head to the side. “Girl you know you can’t trust anything that devil worshipping Chastity would say.  Jake’s her very own Joey Donner.  Whatever it is, I’m positive she’s exaggerating just to mess with you.”

“She described a mole Jake has on his hip.  And when I demanded to see it, to prove she was lying, Jake didn’t show me and started to apologize.”  Marley sniffled as her eyes once again started to fill with tears.  Unique pulled her closer as Kitty squeezed her hand and Tina rested her head against Marley’s shoulder.  

“That’s it. We need more than ice cream.” Unique declared. “This requires brownies, sundaes and a flawless angry girl playlist.”

“I’ve got the playlist.” Tina jumped to grab her bag at the door of Kitty’s room and began rummaging through it to find her phone.

“I happen to be the queen of brownies and sundaes.” Kitty declared. “Be down in the kitchen in twenty minutes or leave hungry.”

“Which leaves me for hugs.” Unique nodded pulling Marley closer to her.  “So you cry all you want now.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You need any help?” Tina offered as she entered the kitchen.  Marley wasn’t quite ready to listen to an angry chick playlist just yet, so Tina offered to go see if she could help the brownies come along quicker.  Also it gave her a chance to put in a quick text to Blaine to let him know what was going on.  She had a feeling it would take longer to get Jake to talk than it took with Marley.  

“Nope. It’s all under control.” Kitty nodded.  “Text Blaine yet?”

“I would not leave Marley crying in your room and immediately text Blaine.”

“Please. You so would.” Kitty shrugged.  “Besides I already texted Arthur.  Jake’s probably going to try to brush them off so they need to know what they are up against.”  Putting the brownie batter into the oven, she moved to sit at the kitchen table. “So you’re the expert here. What do we do tomorrow at school?”

“I’m not really sure.” Tina admitted. “I mean, yeah, cheating was it’s own sport in the old New Directions but usually we didn’t find out until someone did a very inappropriate angry song for their assignment that week.  You don’t even want to know about the hot mess that was Fleetwood Mac week my sophomore year.”

“Well I for one will be telling Jake Puckerman where to get off. Cheating on Marley with Bree?  Was Satan unavailable?” Kitty threw up her hands.  

“Kitty don’t.” Marley’s quiet voice floated from the doorway.  Unique stood behind her shaking her head. “I don’t want this to become this big thing.”

“Then he shouldn’t have cheated on you.” Kitty pointed out while Tina nodded for emphasis.  

“We should be getting ready for Nationals, not being distracted with this. I don’t want to be the reason we lost Nationals. I’m already the reason we lost Sectionals.”

“Ok, first off we lost Sectionals because Mr. Schue never bothered to tell us the rules.  Not because of you.” Tina argued.  “And secondly this is nothing compared to the Finn/Quinn/Rachel/Jesse/Puck Trainwreck Express.  We won our first Sectionals in the middle of Finn finding out he wasn’t the father of Quinn’s baby and Puck was.  We can win Nationals and still let Jake know he was wrong.”

“That is exactly what I’ve been saying.” Unique pushed Marley further into the kitchen.  “But Miss Marley here refuses to release her inner Alanis.  And she should because if nothing else she has the hair for it.”

“But it wouldn’t do anything. Everyone will just get mad and pick sides.”

“Everyone will be on your side if they know what’s good for them.” Kitty interrupted.

Marley shook her head as she sat down next to Tina.  “It’s not going to change anything. I just want to forget it happened and move on.”

“You love him.” Unique stated simply. “You aren’t going to forget about it or him.”

Marley sighed, her lower lip quivering.  “I just don’t want to think about it anymore. Or how it’s all my fault.”

“WHAT?”  The other three girls cried out in unison.  “Marley you can not be serious.” Tina continued.  “How is Jake cheating on you possibly your fault?”

“He wanted to do more and I told him no. We had this big fight about it and then he went and slept with Bree.  If I was more willing…”

“Stop.” Kitty held up her hand.  “Full out stop. If Jake can’t handle be told no because you aren’t ready then I take back everything I said about not kicking his ass.  I will kick his ass into next week and then meet him next week and kick him into the past.”

“Marley if you aren’t ready and you told him that?  Then it’s on him to respect it.” Tina reached out and tilted Marley’s chin towards her, forcing the younger girl to look at her.  “This is not your fault.  Jake knew what he was doing and Bree knew he was dating you.  You didn’t tell him to go sleep with her.”

“Not so in many words.” Marley casted her eyes towards the kitchen table. “I told him if he wanted to be with a girl who was ready then go find one.  And he did.”

“Please. I tell Arthur all the time if he wants someone nice to go chase down Jordan. Or you.”  Kitty crossed her arms in front of her. “I don’t mean for him to actually do it.  That’s to remind him he’s dating _me_ , not some other girl.  You did not give him permission to sleep with the worst person in the world.”

“Even if you had told him to go sleep with the entire cheerleading team that does not give him an excuse for reverting back to his manwhore ways.” Unique shook her head.  “He made a commitment to you, not to that devil in a too short skirt.  And believe you me, when I see them? They will both hear from me and see the fire in my eyes.”

“And I will make sure to help Becky take back her position as Head Cheerio.  And I am done working on choreography with Jake.” Kitty nodded.  “Done.”

“And I will show Jake something his brother only told him about.  A good old fashioned New Directions musical smackdown.  I can totally convince Mr. Schue _You Oughta Know_ is about something else.”  Tina added quickly.

“Guys no. I don’t want this to be this huge thing in the choir room. We should be concentrating on Nationals.  Not the mess my love life is.”

“A fact Jake should have considered before acting like a dog in heat.” Kitty shrugged.  

“I appreciate so much that you guys want to do this for me, but please don’t.” Marley pleaded.  “I just don’t want to talk to him, see him, sing with him or dance with him.  I don’t want a scene. _Please_.”

Unique, Kitty and Tina shared a look across the table. Unique sighed and took Marley’s hand. “Fine we won’t read him the riot act he so richly deserves.  But we are still not going to treat him like nothing happened.”

“I’ll talk with Blaine, Artie and Sam tonight. I’m sure we can come up with some number that keeps you from dancing with Jake.” Tina offered.  “And I know Blaine loves singing with you so that won’t be an issue at all.”

“And you can walk with Artie and I between classes.” Kitty offered.  “And before you worry that the entire club will be siding with you over Jake, you know Ryder isn’t going to let that happen.  And let’s be real. The guys we hang out with are far too nice.  Blaine probably thinks the cold shoulder is a fashion trend.”

Resting her chin against her hand, Marley offered a sad smile. “Thank you.  Right now i just want to not talk about it anymore and do something that doesn’t remind him of him or dating or love or anything like that.”

“Then I think we’re having a slumber party tonight.” Kitty declared as she stood up. “Call your parents, ladies and let them know where you’ll be, because this is going to be an all night operation.”

“But...I don’t have anything here. And it’s a school night.”

“Honey, once your mom hears the story, she won’t care. We both know that.” Unique pointed out.

“And Kitty’s right.  The guys we know are far too nice for their own good.” Tina pointed out.  “If I know anything about Blaine and Sam, they were planning on stopping by here anyway to check on you. I’ll just ask if they mind getting our stuff on the way.  And you know they won’t.”

“Even if they do, whatever, we’ll get stuff. No big deal. Tonight all we are going to worry about is what movies we’re going to watch and how much ice cream we’re going to eat.” Kitty promised with a wink.  

“Nothing with Julie Andrews.” Marley blurted out suddenly, remembering a past conversation with Jake. “Just nothing with Julie Andrews.”

“Ok and we’ll also delve into your weird hatred of Mary Poppins.” Kitty added with an eye roll. “Whatever.  I’m going to call for pizza.  You all do what you need to do.”

“Come on Queen T.  We have calls to make and plans to discuss.  Marley I’ll bring your phone down.”  

Looking around the kitchen, Marley had to smile in spite of herself.  Kitty was busy checking the progress of the brownies while Unique and Tina good naturedly elbowed each other down the hall towards Kitty’s room.

Yesterday had been one of the worst days of her life.  She had run home, locked herself in her room to cry until her mom came home.  Then she pretended to sleep just so she wouldn’t have to explain to her mother why she looked so awful.  Tonight, on the other hand, she was going to spend it eating pizza, brownies and ice cream while watching silly movies with her friends. (Or at least watching her friends eat all that food.  Perhaps she could convince them a dance off would be a better time than debating what movie to watch.)  And tomorrow, her friends weren’t going to let her face the idea of walking down the halls of school and having to see either Bree or Jake alone.  

**  
**So yes, the situation still completely sucked. But for the first time since Bree let the bomb drop, Marley actually thought she was going to survive this.


End file.
